nominations and posters are due by 5 pm march 27. speeches will begin at 6:30pm at the ram in the rye in the ‘party’ room. voting will begin at 10 am, march 28th. polls close at 5 pm.
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Course Intentions!

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Wednesday, March 12, 2014

NEWS

3

The Eyeopener investigates:

No regulation for thefts during exams
Currently, Ryerson has no speciﬁc policy regarding thefts during school examinations
The Eyeopener that there is no ofﬁcial policy requiring distribution of clear plastic bags during exams. “It is an initiative started some years ago, consistent with the general goals of Policy 135 to provide a good environment for students to write exams,” Turtle said. Ryerson’s Ofﬁce of the Registrar, the Senate policy mentioned above and individual departments point to each other and Policy 135 as being responsible for implementing exam procedure. “The Ofﬁce of the Registrar schedules the exams and distributes the examination schedule, but we do not oversee the proctoring of exams,” wrote Charmaine Hack, Ryerson’s university registrar, in an email. “For the most part, departments establish procedures and protocols within their areas within the senate exam policy framework.” After contacting several departments, it was found that most department heads use the Senate policy framework as their exam policy. “I don’t feel comfortable at all; I usually keep it somewhere close by. Even though you’re not allowed to keep your phones in your pockets, some invigilators allow that,” said Hamza Farooq, a third-year biomedical engineering student. “There’s no telling who might take it, whether by accident or intentionally.” Invigilators are graduate students, faculty members, or outsiders hired by Ryerson to supervise exams. Some former invigilators say that there are not any standard policies on what to do in exams. “What we were told last semester is that if you have your cellphone with you, you’re supposed to turn it off, put it in one of those bags and put the bag under your seat, because if you don’t put the bag under your seat there’s a high chance of it getting stolen,” said Michelle Keith, a graduate-level English student and invigilator for last semester’s exams. “But I don’t think there’s a rigid policy on what to do,” Keith said. “I don’t think there is a standard policy. I think it becomes more standard when it’s a ﬁnal exam, in a bigger setting. But I think when it’s in a midterm, if you’re in the classroom, there isn’t one,” said Sydney Tyber, another former invigilator. The senate policy expects invigilators and proctors, among other things, to “create an environment that is, to the greatest extent possible, supportive of students undertaking the examination.”

Ryerson security has no responsibility when it comes to stolen possessions during exams.

PHOTO: FARNIA FEKRI

By Brennan Doherty
When invigilators supervising exams tell you to place your bag at the front of the room and your phone in the plastic bags provided, they aren’t following standard school policies — they’re following vague guidelines. The recent report of a cellphone theft on Feb. 26 during a midterm exam prompted The Eyeopener to investigate Ryerson’s policies surrounding the placement of electronics during exams. Our ﬁndings show that there are no concrete rules. Ryerson Security and Emergency Services told The Eyeopener

that during the midterm exam, students had been instructed by their professor to leave their cell phones on a table at the front of the room. The phone was stolen during the test. Security does not monitor midterm exams. Security reports that the phone has since been recovered and returned to the student. However, what students are supposed to do with their electronics is still not clear. Policy 135, a Ryerson senate document governing ﬁnal exam policies, only has two references to students’ electronics during exams.

The ﬁrst is a guiding expectation that students should “refrain from bringing cellular phones, personal audio equipment and other electronic devices into the examination room unless speciﬁcally permitted by the course instructor.” The second is a regulation governing students’ possessions and gives no mention of student electronics. “All coats and bags must be placed in such a manner as to be inaccessible to the student while the examination is in progress.” The policy also stresses that Ryerson accepts no liability for lost and stolen items. Senate secretary John Turtle told

Students waiting for waitlist
Enrolling in courses could get easier for students come fall 2014 with course waiting lists
By Laura Woodward
Waking up early to beat the rush, constantly refreshing the page with eyes glued to a computer screen describes the struggles that Ryerson students face when trying to select a course on Ryerson’s Administrative Management Self Service (RAMSS). Students are required to take mandatory courses for their programs, but often need to rearrange their schedule to make all their classes ﬁt in the timetable. A waitlist feature for ﬁlled courses is in its initial stages of development for RAMSS to aleviate some of these problems. The changes are thanks to Jane Wissotsky, a third-year ﬁnance student, who suggested the idea on Soapbox about ﬁve months ago. “RAMSS should create waiting lists for closed courses. Once spots open up, students are automatically enrolled,” said Wissotsky on Soapbox. “Other universities (ex: University of Toronto) allow for this and it makes it less stressful to get into a desired course without spending days and hours at the computer hoping to get lucky.” Over 450 students agreed with Wissotsky by “liking” the idea. Students describe courseswitching hectic, mysterious and decided by “the luck of the draw.” “I try to avoid course-switching the best I can because it’s so stressful,” said ﬁrst-year accounting student, Tanner DaRocha. “It’s all about how good your timing is. Someone who has been trying all day to get into a class might lose their spot to another student who just randomly tried one day and found an open spot.” This issue has also received some feedback from Ryerson ofﬁcials, who have approved the course waitlist idea and planned to put it into action.

PHOTO: FarNIa fEKrI

Ryerson hopes to ease the process of course enrollment for students by providing a waitlist feature on RAMSS.

“We are currently consulting with other universities that use the same student administrative system that Ryerson uses,” said Charmaine Hack, university registrar. “[This] is a critical ﬁrst step in understanding the technical and practical challenges we can anticipate and prepare for in rolling out this function for Ryerson

students,” she said. The school’s next step is to develop a work plan for the technical setup including any development and testing that may be required and to develop guidelines for how waitlisting will operate from a policy perspective. “We will need to determine if students will be required to ac-

cept or decline a course that becomes available versus being automatically enrolled,” Hack said. “If students will need to accept the course, how long should they have to decide?” After ﬁguring out the answers to these questions, the school hopes to test the new feature with select courses as early as fall 2014.

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Michael Tasevski, a recent Ryerson politics grad, is running for mayor of Toronto. Check out a full Q & A with him online at www.theeyeopener.com

Think with Us
Developing Ryerson’s next academic plan
Ryerson’s success is due to your passion and commitment; its future depends on your continued support. We want to hear from you on the university’s proposed academic plan framework – its vision to become Canada’s leading comprehensive innovation university with a focus on four core priorities: students, SRC excellence, innovation and city-building. How you can participate: • Download the proposed framework at www.ryerson.ca/provost • Share your ideas online at academicplan. blog.ryerson.ca • Attend an upcoming town hall meeting:
March 19 March 27 KHE - 221 ARC -108 10-11 AM 2 – 3 PM

Brought back by popular demand, this week’s Annoying Talking Coffee Mug goes to: Re: Contributors Requested changes to a news story. Diana “ 90s Gangsta rap “ Hall The Eye had offered to make the Alexa “Thing 1” Phillips changes we suggested as sympaRob “Thing 2” Foreman thetic gesture. As I said to you in Rebecca “Infuriated” Gross the previous email, our reporting Alex “Party Hard” Heck was solid (as the emails I shared Tifany “Smooth Rap” Crawford with you showed), the core of the Aj “Indie” McDowell story was Ms. K’s willingness to Jordan “Psychedelic” Cornish make public declarations based Tina “TAGA” Mgonja on false assumptions. We had Emily “Ovi” Craig-Evans offered to make those changes Keith “Casual-or-Creepy” recognizing that circumstances had Capstick left Mr. V. in a difficult position. Mohamed “This is shit” However no publisher, Editor-inOmar Chief or newspaper with an ounce Louise “Sextastic” Sexington of credibility would accept the Lara “Business” Onayak current proposal. They editoriMichelle-Andrea “Tech” alize a news piece. What was a Girouard magnanimous gesture appears to Robyn “Thing 3” Bell have been mistaken for a sign of Michael “Sports” weakness or even a concern about Grace=Dacosta our reporting. It was not. Perhaps Joshua “Tigers Suck” Benteau if instead or attempting to re-write Devin “Hockey” Jones history, Mr. V. had done his duty Brennan “Bitter” Doherty and replied to our request for an Alex “Heartbroken” Downham interview on this very story, he would not be where he is today. Melissa “Mournful” Myre As the student owned and stuChayonika “Somber” Chandra dent run Newspaper at Ryerson it Julia “Sorrowful” Ho would have been a good idea to Deni “Melancholy” Verklan reply to our requests. We will not Laura “Sorry” Woodward be making these changes which Kayla “Distressed” Goodﬁeld would impinge the reputation of Andrea “Blue” Vacl all the people involved and The Kulsum “Brouhaha” Khan Eyeopener. We also rescind our Sydney “Abiliaphobia” previous offer of changes. If they Hamilton wish to request a correction based Mitch “Ranivorous” on mis-stated facts, not what they MacEachem wish was said we will consider a Andrew “Gastromancy” valid request. But the facts are not Kalichuck what you *wish* they were. They Marta “Lagopodous” Iwanek are what they are. Sincerely, Very Annoyed Mug The Eyeopener is Ryerson’s largest

Please e-mail provost@ryerson.ca if we need to make any accessibility accommodations to ensure your inclusion in a town hall.

Thanks for your continued support.
Provost and Vice President Academic Mohamed Lachemi

PHOTO: JESS TSaNG

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

NEWS

5

Nothing cooking in the kitchen
Floor 11 of Pitman Hall has been kitchen-less all year
By Julia Ho
When students applied for residency at Pitman Hall for the 2013–14 school year, they were promised a kitchen on each ﬂoor of the building. But the students of ﬂoor 11 have had only a dark, empty and blocked-off room where their kitchen should be since they moved in late August. “We were supposed to get a new kitchen this year, two to three weeks into ﬁrst semester,” said Kienan Osborne, a ﬁrst-year business technology management student. Permits from the city of Toronto were pushed back and kitchen construction could not begin immediately after the room was gutted. Osborne and 14 other ﬂoor 11 residents signed a petition and sent it to student housing services before reading week. Along with the petition was a letter explaining the situation and a suggestion to speed up the building process or reimburse students. Student housing services rejected the proposal for reimbursement because the situation fell under city jurisdiction. “It’s sort of outside of our control,” said Jenny Owens, student housing residence marketing and The kitchen on ﬂoor 11 remains closed for renovations. assignments coordinator. “We were renovating in the ﬁrst place because [of an] experimental [program],” Ownes said. “Students were staying on the ﬂoor for 11 months — we were trying to improve the kitchen for them.” The permit was ﬁnally approved by the city and construction resumed the week of March 3. It’s set to be completed May 1. “It’s kind of put a burden on the ﬂoor to cook and make our own food. We have to go to other ﬂoors if we want to do so,” Osborne said. He added that his parents weren’t impressed when they found out about the missing kitchen. “It would’ve been nice if there was some prior notice. It seems like they just don’t care,” said ﬁrstyear biomedical sciences student, Bahoz Dara. Because students weren’t told their room numbers until they moved in, residents of ﬂoor 11 weren’t prepared for the lack of kitchen facilities. “It’s costly, both paying for [a kitchen that doesn’t exist] and having to buy food [already] made,” said Jonathan Smith, ﬁrst-year business management student. Despite the fact that most current ﬂoor 11 residents will be moved out by the deadline, they’ll be paying the same amount as other residents who have been living with fully functioning kitchens. “Everyone says you can use another ﬂoor’s kitchen,” Dara said. “But you shouldn’t need to.”

News Bites
Professor scores ﬁlm award
A Ryerson professor at the School of Image Arts, Min Sook Lee, won for the best history documentary at the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards for her war documentary, The Real Inglorious Bastards. The ﬁlm, which has no connection to Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, dramatizes the lives of three men sent into Germany during the Second World War to inﬁltrate the Nazi regime.

Ryerson grad running for mayor
A Ryerson University grad, Michael Tasevski, is running for mayor of Toronto in the upcoming 2014 election. Tasevski’s platform focuses on implementing stronger relationships between the city’s budget and its citizens. The candidate hopes to make the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) a world leader in public transit, while creating more green spaces to make the city a front-runner in environmental living. Tasevski graduated from Ryerson with a degree in politics & governance in 2013.

PHOTO: FARNIA FEKRI

Mother of accused continues testimony
Sedigheh Moradi continues to testify against son’s sanity
By Dylan Freeman-Grist and Jake Scott
The mother of accused murderer Farshad Badakhshan testiﬁed that her son had uttered violent threats during psychotic episodes before the alleged murder of former Ryerson student Carina Petrache. Sedigheh Moradi claims her son had a history of experiencing paranoid delusions about previous girlfriends. “He said ‘when I ﬁnd what happened, I’m going to kill everyone — I’m going to kill you and then I’m going to kill me,’” Moradi said. This is the second time she is testifying against her son’s sanity. On March 5, she said her son had approached her with a knife, calmly stating that he “want[ed] to take her with [him],” adding that he believed people from Halifax were after him. Badakhshan stands accused of murdering Ryerson student Carina Petrache while they were dating in July 2010. Although admitting to killing Petrache, the 31-year-old is pleading that he’s not criminally responsible for his actions due to mental illness. Crown attorney Jennifer Loftt questioned Moradi on her testimony thus far in the trial and had her recount her son’s decent into mental illness. In 2006, Moradi had moved to Toronto from Vancouver in order to seek help for her son after noticing a drastic change in his behaviour. “My son changed a lot — he [was] very paranoid, he [was] a different person,” Moradi testiﬁed, recalling his belief that his then-girlfriend was engaging in a relationship with his father. Upon arrival in Toronto, Moradi checked Badakhshan into the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health where he was diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder on Feb. 27, 2006. After being perscribed a drug plan, however, Moradi noted that Badakshan was not consistent with taking his medication and

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY LUCY WEISSFLOG

Accused murderer Farshad Badakhshan.

there was no improvement in his paranoid behaviour. Moradi then chose to leave her son and move to Calgary alone in July 2006. Loftt suggested to Moradi that her choice to leave her son was due to his increasingly aggressive and violent behaviour. “I was miserable and helpless, I couldn’t help him — that’s why I left,” Moradi testiﬁed. The trial continues.

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NEWS

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Students not so TekSavvy
Illegal downloaders using TekSavvy could soon face heavy ﬁnes
By Leah Hansen
A recent court decision in the TekSavvy-Voltage Pictures case is working towards shutting down copyright trolling in Canada and protecting alleged infringers from being exploited. In a decision released Feb. 20, a judge ordered TekSavvy, a popular Internet service provider (ISP) among students, to disclose 2,000 IP addresses and corresponding customer names to Voltage Pictures — the company responsible for ﬁlms such as The Hurt Locker and Dallas Buyers Club. Voltage ﬁled a lawsuit in late 2012 alleging copyright infringement by TekSavvy customers. By law, the maximum amount Voltage could gain from any one individual for copyright infringement is $5,000. “Five-thousand dollars for a ﬁrst offence without any strikes or warning is overkill,” said Martin Wennde, a ﬁrst-year Ryerson computer science student and TekSavvy customer. “Yes, it is illegal but it’s like jaywalking, a crime that nobody enforces.” While this decision might appear to be a blow to TekSavvy, experts are saying it’s a big step in discouraging an extortion scheme, known as copyright trolling, in Canada. Copyright trolling occurs when a copyright holder uses the legal process to extract excess amounts of money from alleged infringers, said David Fewer, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), which intervened in the case. Fewer said that copyright trolling is common in the United States. After a ruling has been made, a copyright holder is permitted to send letters out to the alleged offenders. “They’re really leveraging fear and anxiety in the cost of defending yourself in a court to build a business model on the basis of low-scale intellectual copyright infringement,” he said. Fewer said the outcome of this particular highly publicized case was actually a positive one. “I think this decision is a death blow to copyright trolls in Canada,” he said. “I think Voltage is extremely unhappy with this decision.” Even though Voltage Pictures has been successful in getting the desired ruling in this case, students using TekSavvy have little to worry about, according to Avner Levin,

More rights for interns
By Laura Woodward
It might not be a paycheque, but more beneﬁts and protection may be given to student interns if a new proposed bill gets passed. New Democrat MPP Jonah Schein introduced a private member’s bill March 4 at Queen’s Park that would amend the Employment Standards Act to include unpaid interns and require the Ministry of Labour to keep track of people working unpaid. Currently, the Employment Standards Act — the law that mandates the minimum wage — excludes individuals who are receiving a school credit rather than payment. Schein’s bill would amend the act to include interns, co-op students and trainees to get the same basic rights as a regular worker, with breaks and holidays. Employers also would need to have an intern bill of rights in every workplace that outlines health and safety laws and employment standards. If passed, this legislation will be the ﬁrst of its kind in North America. “Internships can offer valuable training opportunities for those entering the workplace, but we need to ensure that young people are getting the experiences they deserve,” Schein said. Employers must submit a written notice of employment status and conditions for a legal internship, hours of work and job description to better educate employers and interns about their rights and discourage illegal internships. Many interns and employers are unaware of their legal rights and responsibilities, according to labour lawyer, Andrew Langille. It’s estimated that 300,000 people are working unpaid internships across the country, but this number can only be an estimate because not all interns are not accounted for. Laura Honsberger, ﬁrst-year fashion student, must complete 400 hours of interning for her four-year degree program. She is currently interning at two fashion boutiques, spending on average 10 hours interning a week. “I do the same work as a sales associate and sometimes more, like cutting fabric and sewing seams,” Honsberger said. “But at the end of the day, interning is essential — especially in the fashion industry because you have to start somewhere.” A component of the bill would require an anonymous complaint system implemented by the employer, to give interns the opportunity to have a voice.

TekSavvy may be required to disclose the names of 2,000 illegal movie downloaders.

PHOTO: NATALIA BALCERZAK

director of the Privacy and Cyber Crime Institute at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management. “There are a number of steps there that make it more expensive and costly for Voltage to go after people,” Levin said. “The more expensive it is to litigate and to pursue it, the less it’s worth it for them.” Before TekSavvy hands any customer information over to Voltage Pictures, they must also reimburse any fees TekSavvy has accrued as a result of the lawsuit, Tina Furlan, TekSavvy’s director of marketing and press communication, said. This includes legal fees, which can amount to many hundreds of dollars an hour, Levin said. In the event that Voltage does decide to continue pursuing alleged

infringers, the courts will oversee every step of the process, Fewer said. “All Voltage has is evidence that a particular subscriber’s IP address may have been involved in a download,” he said. Because the letter confers no legal obligations, there’s no need to be intimidated, Levin said, adding that sending a quick response denying the allegations is the best way to respond. “The more expensive it is for the other side to litigate it, the more likely that you are to be let off the hook,” he said. “Don’t pay until somebody actually proves that you’ve infringed upon somebody’s copyright.” With ﬁles from Laura Woodward

Say goodbye to urinals in SHE building
As requested, men’s bathrooms have been renovated to women’s bathrooms
“I’d be annoyed if that happened in the engineering building. If I have to go then I have to go and I wouldn’t want to walk downstairs. I think men are more passive about these things and they just think it is what it is,” said Kristie Ford, a ﬁrst-year engineering student. “Basically, it’s unfair, completely not fair.” Kerri Bailey, the manager of ﬁnance and strategic planning at Ryerson’s Campus Facilities and Sustainability wrote via email that the new washroom was made to “accommodate the large amount of women on that (the ﬁfth) ﬂoor.” The Sally Horsall Eaton Centre consists of the ﬁfth and sixth ﬂoors above Eric Palin Hall, located on the corner of Gerrard and Mutual streets. It is home to child and youth care, disability studies and health services management at Ryerson. Engineering student, Mohamed Egeh, isn’t bothered by the renovations, agreeing that more women come to the centre because the faculties inside the center are supposedly female-dominated. “It’s true that there are more women than men studying here, so I don’t see it as a big deal,” said Egeh. “However, if you don’t know the ﬂoors well that can be an issue; I got lost looking for the washroom the ﬁrst time I came here.” Cindy Da Silva, an early childhood education student from George Brown College, said the new washroom is unnecessary despite the large amount of females in the centre. “It can get pretty busy around here but there are already quite a few washrooms for women,” said Da Silva, whose Goerge Brown program also shares a space in the Sally Horsfall building. “I don’t think we needed another.” Students like Mohamed Dibbasey think that the number of washrooms should not have been changed. “It only makes sense if things are equal. There should be the same amount of facilities in every building, no matter what,” he said.

PHOTO: natalia balcerzak

Men now have to go to the sixth ﬂoor of the Sally Horsfall building to use washrooms.

By Alex Downham
New renovations at the Sally Horsfall Eaton Centre for Studies in Community Health requested by students and faculty members have left the number of men’s and women’s washrooms in the centre unequal. The renovations consisted of converting all but one men’s bath-

room on the ﬁfth ﬂoor of Sally Horsfall to women’s washrooms. It was part of a renovation that was completed on the ﬁfth ﬂoor in 2006. There are still six washrooms divided among the centre’s ﬂoors. However, there is a single men’s washroom left on the sixth ﬂoor of the centre. The other was converted into a universal space.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

NEWS

7

What does the RSU really do for you?
Students across campus are puzzled about the role of the RSU, despite paying fees every year
By Keith Capstick
All Ryerson students pay a fee each semester for their Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) memberships, but few know where their money is going. Students paid $65.43 in the fall to be represented by the RSU. They’re responsible for organizing things like dental beneﬁts, discounted metro passes, and providing students with updated technology around campus. “I know they say they’re going to do a lot of things around campus, but I don’t know if they actually happen,” said Justine Glover, a second-year food and nutrition student. The RSU is a student organization that includes all graduate and undergraduate students and is led by an executive of representatives elected by students. Its purpose is to “ﬁght for student rights” and to “build [a] community on campus through events.” Students are collectively aware that the RSU claims to be a driving force behind campus events and student rights, but are troubled by the lack of tangible evidence to support their claims to be “the hub of activity on campus.” “Do you have any background on them? I don’t really know what they do, all I know is they take my money,” said Izzy Ahrbeck, a ﬁrstyear radio and television arts student. According to their 2013 proposed budget, RSU executive members make $28,250 each and the total expenses given to members reach nearly $35,000 each. “I don’t really know anything or who they are. I’ve been told they get paid,” said Hannah Macrae, a ﬁrstyear business marketing student. In reaction to comments like Macrae’s, RSU president Melissa Palermo said that “it’s important for students to feel like their voice is heard through their students’ union and that they see themselves represented.” Palermo says that the RSU will continue to be “an independent voice that advocates for students.” After hearing Palermo’s reaction to their words, students were given a chance to address the statement from their student union president. “Her words are the quintessential reason for students’ feelings about the RSU, she didn’t even address us at all,” said Sydney Tyber, a graduate literature student. “I just don’t think they’re creating a conversation with the students,” Glover said. Palermo says that the RSU attempts to create this conversation by “get[ting] in touch with students through social media, especially Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.” But many students still don’t feel like they are part of a collective conversation with the RSU. “I’ve seen them on Twitter and I really feel like they’re not appealing to everyone. I just don’t feel like they care about me or what I want,” Glover said.

Rye is ‘bugging’ the books
New scanning tech to be installed in Rye’s library utilities
By Melissa Myre
A new security system that will track library utilities, such as books and laptops, may soon be implemented at Ryerson’s library. Radio Frequency Identiﬁcation (RFID) labels can track these library items by using radio signals that come from a chip that is stuck to the inside of a book or a laptop. If someone were to pick up a book, the chip would activate the tracking device and keep tabs on its exact location. These technological tags were most commonly used to track livestock but have been recently used to track consumer products. “RFID tags can be read faster and easier compared to regular book barcodes. It also offers fast inventory control and item tracking capacity,” said Weina Wang, Ryerson’s borrowing and lending services system librarian. Currently, Ryerson’s library uses OneCards to keep tabs on borrowed books and technology. This system is implemented by having students scan their cards at the library’s front desk. “[The new tracking system] is a great technology for libraries since it offers signiﬁcant time savings for both library staff and students,” Wang said. The library’s course readings assistant, Sarah Pelletier, said that the new system will reduce the amount of thefts occurring in the library. Forty-three thefts of borrowed laptops and books were reported to Ryerson security in the 2012– 13 school year. Another 19 were reported last semester. “We are all students trying to get by with what we have [available to us] — if you’re struggling, don’t make it so that someone else has to,” she said. Asif Bin Zahir, a fourth-year commerce student, said RFIDs are not top-of-the-line, but are more effective than the OneCard system. The new system would allow multiple barcodes to be read simultaneously, cutting down on the time required to check in and out borrowed items. The microchip would also be able to trigger an alarm if an item is taken from the library without being scanned at a check-out machine. Though the system is still being planned, Wang stated the project would take a signiﬁcant amount of funds and time. “Libraries are moving towards electronic books and cloud computing, the budget is being weighed in all competing priorities,” Wang said. With the OneCard system still in place, the RFID project continues to be planned.

DOORS OPEN AT 6:30PM • Performances by Ryerson Students • Semi Formal ON SALE NOW!

Ryerson’s library books will soon be bugged with new tracking technology.

8

FEATURES

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

( PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE PEOPLE )

BEHIND

C
PHOTO: ALEXA PHILLIPS

THE

URTAIN
W
hen Bree Lawrence was in her second year, she waited for things to get dark. When the lights on a stage go down, that is the cue for theatre production students like Lawrence to move set pieces on or off stage, or facilitate changing the colour of a light. By the nature of their work they move quickly and sneakily — production leaves little room for idleness. But that wasn’t the kind of darkness she was waiting for. Lawrence had a different kind of stealth in mind. At the time, in 2012, she was head ﬂyman on the annual Ryerson Theatre School (RTS) show Choreographic Works, a series of shows, usually in sets of 20, that span about ﬁve minutes long each. Her responsibilities entailed hanging heavy lights and curtains on ﬂys — pipes that are attached to a pulley system that take the equipment into the ceiling of the stage. She didn’t want to mess it up. So she waited for nightfall be-

A look behind the people who bring you each show and the blood, sweat and tears before each curtain call By Lindsay Boeckl

fore sneaking into the RTS ofﬁces to reference the show notes from the year before and make sure she was on the right track. Two years later, that attention to detail has paid off for the now fourth-year student. This time, Lawrence is the technical director of Choreographic Works, only a rung or two down the ladder from the top job. She oversees all of the heads of departments including audio, props and even ﬂys, the job she once held. These days Lawrence doesn’t have to sneak glances at old show notes. She’s writing them. As the dancers move about the stage to their own set of notes, a small army of production staff work through their own choreography. It’s as orchestrated as the movements of the dancers, but often overlooked by the casual theatregoer. The truth is that behind every production that waltzes its way across the stage at Ryerson Theatre, there is a complex system of lights, sounds and people. And to those people, the real show is behind the curtain.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

FEATURES
the basic story of what he was trying to portray in the piece and I just kind of took that and worked with that and created what he wanted,” Jules says. “[They] wanted a sense of either being in a funeral home or a cemetery.” As one of two stage managers he “calls” the show, which entails school as well. A Choreographic Works veteran, he’s worked the lighting for the show for three years through a myriad of junior positions. To him, Choreographic Works is truly a collaboration of lights, sound and movement. The narrative of the piece is just as im-

9

ehearsals combine a trifecta of lighting that has been designed, music that has been mixed or recorded and dances that have been choreographed. One day in late February, a fourth-year dancer is working on her solo. She moves through the motions with practiced ease but that piece would never make it into the show. She dislocated her knee and was sent to the hospital. For the producer of this year’s Choreographic Works and parttime RTS professor Kenny Pearl, this awful event led to something more heartwarming. “It was just very moving to see the care that she was shown,” Pearl says. “The next day she came in on her crutches— that was quite moving.” As they say in the business, the show went on. Choreographic Works 2014 opened on March 7 and runs until March 15. The pre-show set-up process starts two hours before the show begins and in the ﬁrst ten minutes, Lawrence is asked as many questions. Her job, in short, is to know where everyone and every piece of equipment is. She manages crew members and any issues that arise — swaths of her time are spent answering questions and even more are spent hustling about the theatre. “A lot of what I do is just running around,” Lawrence says. The theatre is a mess of people sweeping and mopping on and off stage, side stage and even the hallway surrounding it. In order to get by the wet ﬂoor, all of the crew has to step on top of the mops to clean the bottom of their shoes before continuing to run around. Lawrence points to a piece of dust on the ﬂoor and says it looks like a dreadlock. In addition to all of her other duties, she has been picking dust bunnies out of brooms.

R

of merging a song by disco pop band The Bee Gees with the ambient experimental band The Knife for the piece “Lovers in a Dangerous Time.” In addition to preparing all of the music beforehand, during the show he mans the soundboard, which is located near the back of the rise seating that was custombuilt for the show. “I have a headset on to communicate with everyone backstage so the challenge there is keeping it on, talking to everyone backstage while mixing a show and making sure it sounds good for everyone to listen to,” Barraclough says. Sitting next to Barraclough and the massive soundboard is the head electrician, third-year Joshua Ludeck, with an equally impressive lighting board of his own. The two chat about “Techy Dance,” an after-show special that happens once a year towards the end of Choreographic Works where the production team members mimic a few of the dances from the show. “To an extent, it’s like saying yeah, I know we rag on you, but here’s us trying to do what you do and sucking at it,” Ludeck says. Ludeck is looking down on the stage where third-year theatre production student and lighting design coordinator Nic Vincent has been sending dust into the air as he rubs lights with the end of his sleeve. “Can I see the warm lights please?” Vincent calls up to Ludeck. Vincent ﬁnds a dark spot where the lighting doesn’t hit the stage properly. In less than a minute, Lawrence arranges for someone to be in a harness heading up into the ceiling, or cove, to ﬁx it. “[RTS] pushes students to their limit,” Vincent says. “It does this on purpose, it tests you. It asks ‘do you really want to do this?’ And that’s absolutely what I paid for, is that conﬁrmation. I want to know

[RTS] pushes students to their limit. It does this on purpose, it tests you. It asks you ‘do you really want to do this?’ And that’s absolutely what I paid for, is that conﬁrmation
making sure he’s communicating through the headsets. It’s all about making sure everyone is where they need to be when they need to be there. He speaks with a no-nonsense tone. Jules works as a lighting designer professionally outside of the portant as the audio for it, which he listens to while creating his designs. “It’s one of the most diverse shows we put on at Ryerson,” he says. nce the show begins, Lawrence is not present backstage. Instead,

O

she watches from the conﬁnes of the production ofﬁce on a grainy monitor. Minutes before leaving the stage, she runs through a lastminute contingency plan to make sure the crew is prepared if an audience member faints. It’s part of her job to make sure they’re ready for anything. But then Lawrence is in the production ofﬁce — a narrow jumble of lights, tables and supplies — and it’s out of her hands. In a ﬁtting ﬁnale to her role, she must put her trust in the people she has invested so much time in preparing, just as a technical director once did for her. While the show runs through its motions, the crew and dancers move through their separate choreography. Lawrence watches it all. “It drives you so much,” she says. “[This crew] is learning from me and I’m learning from them.”

To an extent it’s like saying yeah, I know we rag on you, but here’s us trying to do what you do and sucking at it
While she’s running around, a soothing male voice is heard over the theatre. “That was Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing In The Dark’ ladies and gentleman,” Brandon Barraclough says. The second-year head of audio likes to host a fake radio show during the pre-show. “It’s entertaining — at least, some people think it’s entertaining,” he says. On the side, Barraclough (pronounced “bear clue”) is the front man for a band called The Bear Claws. These days, however, he spends more time mixing music than he does making it. For Choreographic Works he had the task if I’m not cut out for this industry.” he ﬁrst dance piece in the show — “You Are The Sun” — begins and behind the curtain stage right, Adam Jules surveys a monitor with a live feed of the stage from the audience’s perspective. He watches four dancers move through the lighting setup he designed. The dark theatre slowly becomes visible. The four dancers sitting on blocks are bathed in blue light. Across the stage from them is a bench with a rose in a vase and photographs facing the PHOTO: LINDSAY BOECKL performers. A bank of ﬂys stage right at Ryerson Theatre, behind the “wings” or side curtains. They are used to lift objects in the theatre. “[The choreographer] told me

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10

ARTS & LIFE

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

PHOTOS: JESS TSANG

Tommy Lee (above right) and his friend and director, Nem Stankovic, plan to embark on their “quest” this summer. Their documentary, My Friend Tommy, aims to help Lee gain conﬁdence and lose his virginity on an epic pan-American road trip.

One 35-year-old RTA student is about to go on the trip of a lifetime
By Jake Scott
Various vendors peddling vibrators and lubricants line the hallway of the Vanity Adult Fan Expo as a 35-year-old Ryerson radio and television arts (RTA) student is preparing to interview a porn star. He has no idea why these colourful dildos are shaped this way, but he’s here handing out business cards while introducing himself to everyone. The student is awash in naked women twirling sparkling tassels in his face. He is bombarded with images of sex machines and tantric sex. This is the ﬁrst time he’s ever seen a pornographic image or an adult ﬁlm.With the help of a media pass, he manages to land a 25-minute on-camera interview with Lisa Ann, a renowned porn actress who has starred in more than 250 adult ﬁlms. His name is Tommy Lee and he’s here promoting a ﬁlm that his friend, Nem Stankovic, wants to make about his life — My Friend Tommy. They hope to raise $15,000 through a Kickstarter campaign starting in April. According to Stankovic, the ﬁlm is already receiving some attention from Hollywood. This is something Lee says he never expected. Lee still lives with his parents, has an 11:30 p.m. curfew and has never had a girlfriend. He’s also a virgin. Six months from now, the duo plan to go on a mission across the United States to document Lee as he ﬁnds himself, discovers his independence and attempts to lose his virginity. ***** Lee was born in 1979 in Seoul, South Korea, but his family moved to St. Catharines, Ont. in 1982. His parents put a lot of pressure on him to succeed and his peers would tease him about his weight. At one point, he tipped the scales at around 300 lbs. “In my insecurity, I would eat a lot and didn’t really have a great support system,” Lee says. “My mom would tell me I was overweight and she overdid it… She wasn’t trying to be mean about it, I just took it the wrong way.”

The man with something to lose
Years later his family would move from St. Catharines to Toronto so that Lee’s brother could pursue his career as a dentist. Lee says he hated Toronto because it was foreign to him and he felt the people weren’t as friendly. After working a volunteer job for Rogers TV and as a sales clerk at an Indigo bookstore, he got into Ryerson’s RTA program in 2011. It was here that he met Stankovic, a ﬁrst-year fellow RTA student whom would later become his best friend. ***** It’s the ﬁrst lecture of the year. Young ﬁrst-year students are chatting to each other about their summer experiences and university aspirations. In walks Lee, the front of his hair spiked up. “Do you have that teaching assistant (TA)?” one student asks, pointing at Lee. He stands a few rows from the front, turns around and starts introducing himself to absolutely everyone. Inside, he’s a mess. He’s thinking this is a huge mistake, that these 17-year-olds won’t know what to make of him or worse, that they won’t accept him. All smiles, Lee made his way around the room on that ﬁrst day, setting a precedent for his next four years at Ryerson. He was so nice to people that it came off as suspicious. Nobody could be this kind. He would go out of his way to help people with their assignments, even if they didn’t ask. “People thought something was wrong with him, they were like ‘does Tommy sacriﬁce goats on Wednesday? Why is this guy so nice?’” says Stankovic, the documentary’s director and one of its coproducers. The two met during a break from this lecture. Like many other students, Stankovic initially thought he was a TA, but they eventually bonded over their love of basketball. “He came up to me and said ‘Hey man, you’re tall. Do you play basketball?’ and when I told him I played division one, it blew him away,” says Stankovic, whom played university basketball in Chicago before coming to Ryerson. When they started hanging out, Stankovic noticed that Lee had a few quirks. For starters, he had been telling people that he was 27 — for two years in a row. And when they went to parties, ple will be interested in seeing your story and seeing your life change.’” ***** To say this movie is all about Lee losing his virginity doesn’t do it justice. They could ﬁlm this entire documentary in Toronto, but the road trip is, according to Stankovic, very necessary. “Tommy has never really been allowed to go many places so I thought it would be a good idea to take an epic road trip and mix that in with growing his life and giving him freedom,” he says. Stankovic doesn’t want Lee to run and have sex with the ﬁrst willing person he meets. It’s all about the little steps. First he has to get a date, which has proven difﬁcult. Tommy says he’s never been on a date with a girl, unless it was under the pretext of a respectful friendship. “[I was] overweight, my whole high school years were gone right there and I had problems with my own insecurity… But as the years went by I still couldn’t seal the deal. When I liked a girl I couldn’t approach [her],” Lee says. Stankovic wants him to step well beyond his comfort zone and be in situations where he has to make his own decisions. “Basically I want to give him his adolescence in his thirties,” Stankovic says. He wants to give Lee something great and show him, and the world, that it’s never too late to change your life. “When I get back, I’ll be more positive, more conﬁdent in myself,” Lee says. “My parents will actually see me as that new person.”

People thought something was wrong with him, they were like ‘does Tommy sacriﬁce goats on Wednesday?’ Why is this guy so nice?
Disgusted with himself, Lee began losing the weight at 20 after he saw a high school graduation photo in which he needed a custom gown to accommodate his wide frame. He dropped down to about 180 lbs. in four years after his mom got him a YMCA gym membership. “I was determined to lose that weight. That anger of people calling me fat all through elementary school and high school, it just burned up,” Lee says. Over that four-year span Lee also got a bachelor’s degree in political science at Brock University, the ﬁrst of his three degrees. He says he wasn’t a nice person when he started at Brock, but met supportive friends who helped turn him around.

Tommy has never really been allowed to go many places so I thought it would be a good idea to take an epic road trip
Lee would always have to leave by 11:30 p.m. The closer they became, the more Stankovic learned about Lee’s situation and eventually his well-intact virginity. This birthed My Friend Tommy, an independent, crowd-funded documentary that aims to change one man’s life. Stankovic came up with the idea a year-and-a-half ago when he confronted Lee about his real age and his virgin status. He approached Lee with the idea. “He didn’t believe he was an interesting person,” Stankovic says. “I told him, ‘You’re so different from the rest of the world that peo-

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

COMMUNITIES

11

Journey for Jacob funds cancer research
Ryerson professor aims to raise $70,000 for cancer research in support of her son’s battle
By Sydney Hamilton
Ryerson retail management professor Lorrisa Dilay anxiously sits in the waiting room of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). To distract herself from thinking about the worst-case scenario that keeps running through her head, she stares at her iPhone and plays countless games of solitaire. Her three-year-old son, Jacob Middleton, is undergoing a ninehour surgery to remove a twopound malignant tumour, as well as his left kidney, adrenal gland and lymph nodes in his abdomen. Malignant tumours are extremely dangerous and can become lifethreatening. Just one week before the surgery, everything seemed ﬁne. Jacob was his normal self. But in a regular checkup, a doctor discovered something out of the ordinary. Tests later revealed that he had stage four Wilms’ tumour — a rare form of childhood cancer. “It was a complete shock,” Dilay said. “My body was going through ﬁght or ﬂight, my heart didn’t stop racing for three weeks research geared towards ﬁnding the segment of DNA code that triggers Wilms’ tumour to relapse. The Retail Students’ Association at Ryerson (RSA) organized the most recent Journey for Jacob fundraising event — a charity gala and silent auction. “Planning for this event [didn’t] feel like work, since I know that there will be true beneﬁts from it,” said Hilary Taylor, a fourth-year retail management student and president of the RSA. Jacob recently turned six and celebrated with a reptile-themed birthday party. But his birthday wish was something different than what most children ask for. Instead of gifts, he suggested his friends bring donations to support research for Wilms’ tumour. Now, Jacob is healthy, but his journey continues along with the goal to help other children going through the same struggle. After a long battle, Dilay is thankful for SickKids and the incredible support they gave her and her family. “SickKids is an amazing place, I feel very strongly about supporting their research,” Dilay said. “We have a really supportive community.”

PHOTO CoURtESY LoRRISa DIlaY

After a lengthy battle with Wilms’ tumour, a rare type of childhood cancer, Jacob Middleton is now in remission.

afterwards.” It’s been almost three years since the week that changed Dilay and her son’s lives. After countless days and nights spent at the hospital, numerous doctor appointments, needles, tests and an unexpected relapse in 2012, Jacob is ﬁnally in remission.

But the ﬁght didn’t end there. When Jacob was diagnosed in 2011, Dilay started a tribute fund called Journey for Jacob to raise money for research speciﬁc to Wilms’ tumour. “All this fundraising kept my mind off all the bad stuff,” Dilay said. “I put all my time and energy

into beating cancer.” Thus far, she has raised nearly $64,000 — just $6,000 short of her ultimate goal. To raise money, Dilay has made wristbands, set up a lemonade stand, created an online forum and hosted events. This money, more speciﬁcally, will help fund

Ain’t no mountain high enough
Rye student to bike across Canada for a second time to support the White Ribbon Campaign
By Mitch MacEachern
Fourth-year psychology student Alexander Waddling mounted his bike in May 2012 and set off on a trip across Canada with hopes to raise awareness about violence against women. But a close encounter with a rockslide almost prevented him from ﬁnishing the bike-a-thon. After pedalling for 36 days, Waddling and his friend, Danny Surjanac, had reached British Columbia. They were biking through a mountain pass when an avalanche of rocks came tumbling onto the road in the path they were headed down. “It was terrifying,” Waddling said. “It sounded like a freight train blew up right next to us.” But for Waddling, this was just another day. While biking from Toronto to Vancouver, the duo encountered a close call with a tornado, several mudslides and other unfavourable weather conditions. Now, two years later, the original pair of cyclists are gearing up to do it all over again — but this time, a total of 30 other riders will be joining them. Come May, the group will travel down roads familiar to Waddling and Surjanac, covering over 4,500 kilometers in just over a month. The bike-a-thon, called Ride for a Dream, aims to support the White Ribbon Campaign. The White Ribbon Campaign, which has a chapter at Ryerson, was Waddling’s call to action.After getting involved during his second year at Ryerson, he wanted to do something more for the organization — which is where he got the idea to create Ride for a Dream. In collaboration with the White Ribbon Campaign, Ride for a

PHOTO CoURtESY alEXaNDER waDDlING

Danny Surjanac, left, and Alexander Waddling, right, on their ﬁrst bike-a-thon across Canada.

Dream is starting dialogues on the topic of violence against women all across Canada. “We are climbing mountains,” Waddling said, referring to the high altitudes they encountered while biking through British Columbia. But Waddling says that the mountains can also be viewed as symbolic. They are the imposing hurdles that he, his team, the White Ribbon Campaign and any person standing up against violence against women, need to overcome.

These mountains, he said, are what give him gratiﬁcation. After their close call with the rockslide, Waddling and Surjanac stopped at a restaurant. The road was closed, so they decided it was time to take a break. A female server came over, took their orders and started chatting with them. “Where are you guys coming from?” she asked. “We’re from Toronto,” Waddling said. “We’re doing this charity ride to end violence against

women. We think it’s important to engage men [with] this.” Before he could continue, the server quickly left the table. When she returned, she was in tears. “Listen, I don’t have much money, but I need you to take my tips. I need to help you with this,” she said. For Waddling and Surjanac, this moment reafﬁrmed why they decided to do the bike trip in the ﬁrst place — to give women everywhere a sense of optimism and hope.

12

SPORTs

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

50 years since football at Rye
Ryerson remembers the legacy of its 1950–60s football team
By Shannon Baldwin
This year marks the 50th anniversary since Ryerson’s championshipwinning football team made its last campus appearence. The ﬁrst-ever football season at Ryerson was in 1957 and that team was coached by former Toronto Argonauts and Grey Cup champion running back Ted Toogood. Toogood was recruited in 1949 right out of teachers college — he was still playing for the Argonauts at the time — by Ryerson principal Howard Kerr. He was named Ryerson Institute of Technology’s athletic director. Toogood’s name and status enhanced both the credibility of Ryerson’s athletic program and the institute’s proﬁle as a whole. His 11-year career at Ryerson helped turn the Rams into a championship-winning team. The Rams won the Intermediate Intercollegiate Ontario-Quebec Conference championship in 1958. The team was inducted into Ryerson’s athletics and recreation hall of fame in the team category in 2011 and Toogood was inducted in 2005 for his integral part in the formation of intramural sports and clubs at Ryerson. On the rainy November afternoon when Ryerson defeated the University of Toronto Baby Blues at Varsity Stadium in 1958, more than 1,000 students rushed the ﬁeld. At that time, Ryerson only had 1,400 students. It’s sufﬁce to say that football was once the most supported sports on campus. But now the team’s history lies forgotten by most, buried away in the Ryerson archives. “[Students and faculty] don’t know of the past as it is at Ryerson... that there was a football team or how good we’ve done in other sports,” archival analyst Catherine McMaster said. “It’s good to know your past [and] where you come from in terms of this school.” The Ryerson archives and the history of the football team are open to the public. But photographs, newspaper clippings and a 1951 football jacket (donated by alumnus Phil Coulter) are all that’s left of Ryerson’s team, which was terminated in October 1964. Even Kerr can be seen in archived photographs attending the games, along with a band and a real-life, four-legged Eggy. But only the ﬁrst two of the ﬁve Eggys lived to see football at Ryerson. The pigskin was axed at the end of the 1964 season due to high operation costs, lack of proper facilities and poor attendance. So while Mayor Rob Ford may want to bring football to Ryerson, director of athletics Ivan Joseph said there aren’t enough resources to bring back the champion team. “I never say never,” Joseph said “If some very, very good benefactor wants to come in and [say], ‘I’m willing to fund a football team, but I’ve also bought a piece of land right next to your university and I’m building a ﬁeld for you to use — not just for football but for all of your students to do intramurals’ — then I’ll say, ‘OK, we’re having football tomorrow.’”

A game-changing decision
Rams’ Yannick Walcott ran in both the RSU and board of governors elections
By Michael GraceDacosta
Fifth-year guard Yannick Walcott may be a veteran on the court, but he’s about to embark on the rookie season of his political career. Walcott will be entering the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) as the new director of the faculty of business in May. “I’ve never actually been just a student... without varsity sports,” he said. As the ﬁnal buzzer rang in the Feb. 22 game against the University of Ottawa, it not only marked the end of the 2013–14 season but the end of Walcott’s athletic eligibility. So he decided to get involved in Ryerson through politics after a friend asked him to run in the RSU elections. In February, the human resources management student joined the United Ryerson slate and was elected to his position in the RSU. Then in March, Walcott ran as a member of the Students First slate for the Ryerson Board of Governors election. Current RSU president, Melissa Palermo was one of his running mates, but they did not win the election. “[Running for the] board of governors was a lot different,” Walcott said. “First, there’s more competition and second, you’re on a budget, so it’s a little hard to put posters up everywhere when you have to pay [for them] out of pocket.” But Walcott said he had no problem juggling academics, athletics and campaigning. “I felt he handled it well,” Rams teammate Bjorn Michaelsen said. “Yannick is a great role model in our team, [a] very social and caring guy.” Some of his fellow United Ryerson party members see him excelling in politics after graduation. PHOTO: FArNIA FEKrI “He’s a really dedicated individual who always puts his all Rams’ Yannick Walcott moves from sports to politics for his ﬁnal year at Ryerson. in everything he does,” said Tari Ngangura, a senate candidate for But although Walcott is look- ﬁreﬁghter after graduation. United Ryerson. “He’s very good ing forward to being a part of the “It pretty much is everything I with people and if he should ever RSU, he said this will be his ﬁrst enjoy in life,” Walcott said “[I’m] go into politics, that will work re- and last year in politics. helping others [and] part of a ally well in his favour.” He said he plans to become a team.”

Vardzel makes OUA all-star team
Rams pitcher Bryan Vardzel announced to the OUA/OCAA all-star roster
By Joshua Beneteau
Ryerson Rams ace pitcher Bryan Vardzel has been named to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) roster of the OUA/Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA) all-star game to be held at the Rogers Centre on May 11. “I can deﬁnitely say that I was surprised with the nomination,” Vardzel said. “I tried to compete at the highest level possible [during the season].” Vardzel, a third-year marketing management student, was a workhorse for the Rams this season, starting eight games and pitching 47.2 innings — ranking Vardzel second in the OUA. He ﬁnished the season with a 1-5 record, threw 30 strikeouts and walked eight batters. “Bryan was our most reliable and durable pitcher,” head coach Ben Rich said. “He always gave us a chance to win and he always [wanted] the baseball. As a coach, that’s exactly what you are looking for from the ace of your staff.”

PHOTO: ChArLES VANEGAS

Rams’ Bryan Vardzel pitching in Ryerson’s ﬁrst baseball season.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

BIZ & TECH

13

#RU online? Ryerson deﬁnitely is
By Michelle-Andrea Girouard
Ryerson is making a big mark — online at least. Through hashtags and Facebook likes, the university has one of the largest social media presences amongst Canadian universities. In a recent study by MediaMiser, a media analytics and monitoring company, Ryerson was ranked third amongst Canadian universities for social media inﬂuence. The university’s ofﬁcial Facebook account has over 26,000 likes. Ryerson ranked second for having the most retweets (1,000) of the tweets from the university’s ofﬁcial account. Western University’s ofﬁcial Twitter account has the highest amount of followers at over 30,000, while Ryerson’s has just over 23,000. The university’s ofﬁcial Twitter account, @RyersonU, has been active since 2009. It’s run by the communications, government and community engagement department at Ryerson. Bruce Piercey, the director for this department, says that the account is run by staff and students

According to a recent study, Ryerson has one of the largest social media presences among Canadian universities. But how has it affected the learning experience for staff and students?
gage students with events and news on campus. “Social media is a powerful tool for promotion and reach and allows people to interact with the news before it happens,” Wondimu said. Ryerson has over 50 afﬁliated accounts on Twitter and Facebook where staff post content and engage with students and users regarding course content and campus news. This has created an online community where different Ryerson accounts retweet and share information for other Ryerson related accounts. “We [@RyersonU] do get regular requests from our colleagues to share information,” Piercey said. This ampliﬁes the university’s reach to the general public online. According to the study, @RyersonU’s retweets reach over 900,000 users. Ryerson’s focus on its online presence has been successful so far and has now set a benchmark in the Twitterverse for Canadian universities to follow.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATiON: JESS TSANG

and focuses on the Ryerson community’s achievements. “Our strategy is to engage our followers... about Ryerson’s success of its students, faculty and staff and any new developments at Ryerson,” Piercey said. MediaMiser tracked the university’s ofﬁcial Facebook and Twitter mentions between Oct. 10, 2013 and Jan. 15, 2014 and compared them to other universities

across Canada. York University has roughly 26,000 followers on Twitter, the same as Ryerson, even though it has a larger student population. So what does Ryerson do better to get such results? Julia Hanigsberg, vice-president of administration and ﬁnance, says she tweets to interact with and reach out to the Ryerson community. She’s been active on Twitter since 2010 and has over 12,000 tweets.

“I tweet a lot of Ryerson news, about diversity and city-building,” Hanigsberg said. “I often make ﬁrst contact with students through my feed and get great response from students.” Hanigsberg also likes to tweet at incoming students who tweet news of their Ryerson acceptance letters. Betty Wondimu, the digital strategist with Ryerson student life, says that she tweets to inform and en-

FUN
tercourse. Now this can hurt not only for your lady but for you as well. I don’t know your girlfriend and where she got this mighty iron hymen information from but she should go to a gynaecologist to get the real deal on her down below. It’s neither you nor your girlfriend’s fault since the tightening reaction is involuntary, but luckily there are treatment plans that involve dilators — these can last for a few weeks up to a few months, depending on the case. In the meantime, you can still have fun with giving and receiving oral, some good ol’ fashioned clit action for the missus using either your hand or a small bullet vibrator. One of my favourites is the Durex bullet vibrator, it’s nifty and hits the spot. Also, if the front door isn’t an option, the back door may be the way to go for the time being (of course if you both are feeling up for it). I will add that it’s important to support your girlfriend if she does have this condition since she may be insecure about the whole situation and feel inadequate. Either way, with time and effort and proper treatment plans, affected couples have been able to enjoy sex pain-free. Good luck to the both you. — Louise

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Licks from Louise: a sex column
Opinion by Louise

Q: My girlfriend claims to suffer from an iron hymen. No matter how many times she tries she says it never seems to break. Apparently she has a cream and pills that are supposed to help, but it doesn’t seem to be working. What do I do? I’m trying to bust it, but I don’t know what’s going on down there. Is she making this up? A: I hate to break it to you about this whole “unbreakable” situation you have going on here, but there’s no such thing as an iron hymen to my knowledge. Now, I am no doctor, but it’s possible that your girlfriend may have a medical condition called vaginismus, which is a condition where there is an involuntary tightness of the vagina during attempted in-

Don’t read it
By Jake Scott
Aries Libra The Sun has aligned to melt the Justin Bieber’s deposition will besnow and give you hope, only to come a guide for your life. Good luck with that shit. take it away next week. Taurus Scorpio
PHOTO: JESS TSANG

Your negligence in classes will be The ﬁrey depths of the RAC will rewarded with more student debt melt away those winter pounds. from retaking classes. It will suck. Or not — you’re pretty lazy. Gemini Sagittarius

A game!
Spring is around the corner and your food stores are almost depleted. We have a $20 giftcard to Metro to help you stock up for the long exam season ahead. Complete the puzzle and ﬁll out the personal information. Drop it off in the colourful box outside of The Eyeopener ofﬁce at the Student Campus Centre, room 207. The winner will be decided by their accuracy and Name: a random draw. Phone #:

A new business opportunity will The thawing ground means the arise in the form of cat theft. Re- surfacing of many nuts. Find them all, starve the squirrel population. turn the cats for reward money. Cancer Capricorn

An abnormal number of hookers A growth spurt will leave your on your street will force you to poor pubescent head bruised by oppressing doorways. walk where the wild things are. Leo Aquarius

Calm down, please. It’s barely You will win a car in a coffee, but March. Wait, it is March? Oh shit, the engine grease and brake ﬂuid will poison you. I need to do some readings. Virgo Pisces

Student #: Email:

Good philosophers look to the Mars just generally has it out for stars. Great philosophers aspire to you. Word is he’s gunning for your partner. He’s a lover and a ﬁghter. have sex with stars.